12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief features artists including Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.

by Jerry Shriver and Lindsay Deutsch, USA TODAY

by Jerry Shriver and Lindsay Deutsch, USA TODAY

NEW YORK - An epic storm spawned a historic benefit concert Wednesday night as rock, sports and Hollywood royalty gathered in New York's Madison Square Garden to raise money for victims of Superstorm Sandy. The 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief, which was beamed via TV, radio, the Web and movie screens to a potential audience estimated at 2 billion, raised $35 million from ticket sales before the first note was struck, and Web traffic to the donation site was so heavy it crashed the servers. USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver reported through the evening from the arena, and Lindsay Deutsch kept an eye on the acts as they appeared.

1:15 - CLOSING TIME: More than five hours after it began, 12-12-12 wrapped up with an intriguing pairing of Paul McCartney with former Nirvana members David Grohl, Krist Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear. Sir Paul opened the set by fronting his own touring band on The Beatles' Helter Skelter and Wings' Let Me Roll It and Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five. Diana Krall joined him on piano for the McCartney solo hit My Valentine, which he dedicated to his wife, Nancy. And he dusted off The Beatles' Blackbird, which he said he wrote as a response to America's civil rights struggles and hoped would encourage Sandy's victims.

The Nirvana reunion capped the evening as McCartney sang and led a rousing jam on an apparently new track, Cut Me Some Slack. That gave way to The Beatles' I've Got a Feeling and the James Bond soundtrack smash Live and Let Die, punctuated with exploding firepots on the stage.

McCartney welcomed a group of volunteers, hospital workers and first-responders to the stage, then invited Alicia Keys back on to end the night with a singalong on her locally beloved Empire State of Mind.

12:25 - BESPOKE MARTIN: With the show closing in on five hours, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, looking natty in a suit, white shirt and tie, offered a solo acoustic guitar version of Viva La Vida. After joking that he knew the crowd wanted One Direction but "it's past their bedtime,'' he welcomed R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe for a surprising and lovely duet on Losing My Religion. Moving to the piano, Martin dedicated a tender ballad, Us Against the World, to a neighbor who died recently.

12:15 - EVEN MORE HOMETOWN HEROES: Long Island's Billy Joel took the audience on a lyrical tour of the region with the apocalyptic Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway); Movin' Out (with a tagged-on Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas); a wailing-sax-fueled New York State of Mind; a bouncy River of Dreams; and a You May Be Right that referenced Brooklyn. After reassuring the crowd that "we'll get through this, we'll be OK,'' Joel launched into a defiant Only the Good Die Young.

11:40: ECLECTIC PRESENTERS: Everyone from Seth Meyers with SNL character Drunk Uncle to sincere actor Jake Gyllenhaal encouraged viewers to donate on stage, and several more manned the backstage call center. Gyllenhaal presented Billy Joel, who began with Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway).

11:25 - MIXING IT UP: Kanye West, in his black leather skirt over leather pants and white sneakers, added diversity to the lineup by offering up a lengthy medley of raps that included Mercy, Power, Jesus Walks, All of the Lights, Touch the Sky, Gold Digger, Good Life, Runaway and Stronger. West stalked around the stage like a panther, at one point dropping to his knees in supplication.

11:02 - WHO SAID WHAT? As Pete Townshend was leaving the stage, he yelled a joyful epithet to the crowd, one not usually heard on cable outlets such as Bloomberg or Cooking Channel.

10:50 - WHO WAS NEXT: A husky-voiced Roger Daltry joined cohort Pete Townshend on guitar for Who Are You to open their mini-set, though he left the windmill moves to the master. In a wonderfully sentimental segment, the group's late beloved drummer, Keith Moon, sang and pounded away on a video screen as his mates launched into Bell Boy from the rock opera Quadrophenia. That of course led into the requisite selections from an even more famous rock opera, Tommy chestnuts Pinball Wizard and See Me Feel Me/Listening To You. Unlike their fellow countrymen the Stones, The Who were afforded a fuller set and added a rote Baba O'Riley, a soaring Love Reign O'er Me and the lesser-known Tea & Theatre from 2006's Endless Wire.

10:32 - WHO ARE YOU: Back to the classics. Brooklyn-born actor Steve Buscemi rocked an Engine 55 T-shirt while thanking the service workers of the area, surrounded by a group of raucous New York firefighters before introducing the "perennial but forever young" The Who.

10:30 - SOMBER SAMBORA: Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora said backstage that he "had to hold back the tears'' during a recent visit to Seaside Heights and other New Jersey haunts. "My mom's house (in Point Pleasant) got trashed. She's living with me now until we get it fixed up. The tragedy of people who lost homes, lost lives, when is this going to get rebuilt?''

10:10 - CELEBRATE LIFE: New Yorkers P. Diddy and Olivia Wilde thanked the hospitals and doctors of the city for their efforts, encouraging the crowd to give them a standing ovation, before introducing the first non-"classic rock" act of the night, Grammy-winning R&B singer Alicia Keys, who performed Brand New Me before segueing into her hit No One, crooning "Everything's gonna be all right ... Celebrate love, celebrate life, celebrate New York!"

10:08 - PEER PRESSURE: Stephen Colbert, self-proclaimed "huge celebrity," told youngsters to get peer-pressured into helping others. "It's like doing a line of uncut goodwill. You'll be seeing all kinds of crazy colors. ‚?¶ And if you haven't helped, everybody's doing it, don't be scared! Try it once and you'll be craving the hard stuff, like volunteering in Red Hook."

10:05 - STONE-COLD FINE: The Rolling Stones, who played their first U.S. show since 2006 in Brooklyn on Saturday, chose the semi-obscure but nicely rendered You Got Me Rocking from 1994's Voodoo Lounge album to open their set. After Jagger noted that this was "the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled in Madison Square Garden,'' the band leaped into a furious and extended Jumpin' Jack Flash, with guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood looking a little more animated than they had earlier in the week.

9:52 - ROCK IT: Jimmy Fallon paused to tweet the crowd before beginning his monologue. "I live in New York, but I was born in Brooklyn," he said, thanking the heroes of Coney Island before introducing The Rolling Stones: "If you're watching on the Internet, on TV, on the radio, listen to this place rock!" And rock it did as Mick Jagger took the stage.

9:50 - CRYSTAL CLEAR: Billy Crystal, one of the many hosts, said backstage that he was in California during Sandy, and "watching my hometown (of New York) get pummeled was just horrible. It's a helpless feeling of what's in store for us, maybe, in the future. My wife was born in Far Rockaway (N.Y.) ... and it won't be the same for a long time. That's why we need the government to come in and not play games, not play politics with us.''

9:45 - GREAT PLUCK: Guitar guru Eric Clapton sat down with an acoustic model for a lovely and lusty version of the blues classic Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, which he had performed with Derek & The Dominoes in the early 1970s. Then he switched to electric for another Dominoes-era tune, the fierce Got To Get Better in a Little While. A version of his signature song, Robert Johnson's Crossroads, took the night deeper into the Delta blues.

9:25 - MEMORIES AT THE SHORE: Jersey-born Daily Show comedian Jon Stewart thanked the "year-round working-class communities" of the Jersey Shore for all of his childhood memories: "Every decent milestone came down the Jersey Shore. ‚?¶ It's the only place in the would I couldn't wait to share with my kids, and now they love it as much as I do." He put jokes aside to urge viewers that it was time to return the favor by contributing to the recovery.

9:20 - LIVIN' ON A PRAYER: Bon Jovi began Livin' on a Prayer a capella, the crowd screaming back the iconic lyrics, arms raised, as the band played its opening chords. Could a single song better represent post-Sandy hope and resilience?

9:15 - HOMETOWN HEROES: New Jersey's own Bon Jovi led his band through the anthemic It's My Life and Dead or Alive, with he and Richie Sambora holding their guitars aloft at the end. Between songs, Bon Jovi told the audience: "This recovery is going to take time. We need your sweat, your heart, your prayers.'' Then he returned a favor by bringing Springsteen out to trade verses on Bon Jovi's You Can't Go Home as shots of devastation and recovery were projected in the background.

9:08 - BRUCE IS BACK: Springsteen returned to accompany Bon Jovi in a lively duet of Who Says You Can't Go Home, the crowd raising arms in support as shots of Sandy devastation and recovery were projected in the background.

9:00 - LITTLE STEVEN STANDS TALL: E Streeter Steven Van Zandt said backstage that he's "quite proud of the fact that the music business and entertainers in general are always the first ones to help. In this case it's a little more personal because it's the Jersey Shore, where we grew up. ... The E Street Band, when there's trouble, we run toward it rather than run away.''

8:50 - JERSEY PRIDE: Twilight actress Kristen Stewart took the stage to talk about the New Jersey residents affected by Sandy, including the 2 million who lost power. "Jersey strong is not something measured in numbers," she said before introducing Jon Bon Jovi. "In our time of need, people come together in a way that is unique in a way to who and what we are. I love that," says the famed Garden State rocker in a pre-filmed segment. He then takes the stage with It's My Life, followed by Wanted Dead of Alive.

8:48 - SANDLER ON SANDY: Adam Sandler, accompanied by Paul Shaffer, parodied Leonard Cohen's classic Hallelujah: "Hallelujah, Sandy, screw ya, we'll get through ya, cuz we're New York‚?¶." Brian Williams called it "a new version for the ages" from the star-filled call center.

8:40 - ON 'THE WALL': Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters brought out a team of young dancers to punctuate excerpts from his rock epic The Wall, which he is now touring behind. A languorous version of Us and Them from Dark Side of the Moon, featuring a gorgeous sax solo, was a later highlight, as was a spacy Comfortably Numb, for which Waters turned over vocals to Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

8:15 - AUGMENTED AUDIENCE: The stage wasn't the only star-studded area in the Garden. According to a list provided to media before the show, more than 80 celebs were in the audience or serving as hosts or phone bank workers, including past and present members of the New York Knicks, Sopranos cast members, Ben Stiller, Chelsea Clinton, governors Mario Cuomo (N.Y.) and Chris Christie (N.J.), Martha Stewart, Blake Lively, Jeremy Piven, Katie Holmes, Whoopi Goldberg, Scarlett Johansson and Naomi Campbell.

8:10 - BILLY CRYSTAL: Billy Crystal gave the official welcome: "We're like that great scene in Raging Bull, where Jake LaMotta gets beat up badly by Sugar Ray Robinson, he staggers across the ring bloodied and battered and says what we're going to say to Hurricane Sandy tonight, 'You didn't put me down. You didn't put me down.' And not only does Sandy not put us down, somehow we stand on our feet, and tonight with your help we emerge stronger and better than before." He encouraged people to donate.

7:55 - STORMING THE STAGE: After a montage of news footage of the storm projected on the stage, hometown heroes Bruce Springsteen and the full E Street Band (complete with blazing horn section) opened the show with the uplifting Land of Hopes and Dreams, which ended with a snippet of the gospel nugget People Get Ready. That led into the title track from his latest album (and Grammy-nominated) Wrecking Ball, which carries a theme of resilience amid destruction; and the rebuilding anthem My City of Ruins, written a decade ago for his adopted - and hard-hit by Sandy - hometown of Asbury Park, N.J. Springsteen, who has sung the song at several earlier Sandy benefits, hit the "rise up!'' chorus with extra gospel fervor and faded out with lines from Jersey Girl. New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi then joined the band for Born to Run.

7:30 - BRUCE: Springsteen & the E Street Band took the stage to kick off the show. Clarence Clemons' nephew Jake was on saxophone.

7:25 - ROLE MODELS: Organizers drew inspiration from several other large-scale benefit concerts at the Garden. In 1971, two Concerts for Bangladesh were staged, which raised $250,000 for famine relief (and $12 million in spinoff projects). They were organized by Ravi Shankar, who died Tuesday, and also featured Eric Clapton, who played Wednesday. The post-9/11 Concert for New York City in 2001 was organized by Paul McCartney; it raised an estimated $65 million and featured a number of the artists who appeared Wednesday.